[thelist] cropping images or photography

[Andrew Bayley]

I work in a small design agency, where the bulk of the work is for print.
We regularly shoot our own photo's using home made equipment, a decent
digital camera, and a tripod.  Although slightly clumsy, we manage to shoot
most of our smaller projects like this, using a bit of photoshop to clean
the images up later.  

The cost savings are vast.  The professional photographers that we use for
similar, big budget jobs, charge in excess of R20 000 (South African Rand)
for two days work.  We manage to shoot these ourselves in half a day.  The
quality will never be as good, but for smaller pictures, no one will notice.

Some quick, cheap tips.  Try and get a large box, painted entirely white
inside, and place the objects inside.  This reduces the number of
reflections from surrounding coloured objects.  A  desk lamp or two with
some blue cellophane over them also helps to give a far cooler light.

Andrew Bayley